Laundry drier



J. P. BETHKE LAUNDRY DRIER Feb.10, 1931.

Filed Dec. lO, 1928 ZSheetS-Sheet l WIW J. P. BETHKE LAUNDRY DRIER Feb.10, 1931*.

, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. lO

oooooooooo oosuaooo Dn DOOOOOOOOFr ooooooooooooo Vmentaal Fb.`1o, 1931UNITED STA J'HN P. BETHKE, OF MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN LAUNDRY DBIEBApplication illed December 1'0, 19118. Serial lo. 824,864.

invention relates to llaundry driers and is particularly directed to theconstrucvtion of the tumbler drum and door.

In laundry driers it is the usual practice l to provide a perforatedtumbler drum for the reception of the laundry or material which isinitially placed in the drum in a moist or wet condition as it comesfrom the extractor, for instance, and to rotate the drum in alter' natedirections while a current of heated air is passed through the machine.All parts of the machine become heated and' the'operators experienceconsiderable discomfort in opening the door of the tumbler drum, forthese doors are made to slide with reference to the drum andconsiderable pressure must be exerted yby the hands of the operatoragainst the heated door in order to either open or close the door.

This diiiiculty is increasedwhen the action of the door becomes stickyor, in other words, when the vdoor slightlywarps in `use as actualexperience has demonstrated. `This warping of the door is due probablyto a slight .relief of internal strains in the door when the. doorisheated in the normal operation of the machine. Even a slight warping ofthe door is sucient to cause it to bind in its guides, and the operatorshands remain in contact with the door for a material length of timewhile he is sliding the door into open or closed position, and theburning oflhis hands is augmented by the heavy pressure he is forced toexert against the door.

This invention is designed to overcome the defects noted above, andobjects o f this invention are to provide the tumbler drum of a laundrydrier with a door which is easy t operate, either in opening orclosing;which 4 automatically temporarily locks either in open or closedposition; which releases by a slight, substantially instantaneous pushof the operator; and which is 'provided with one or more latching meanswhich function both to release the door and open or close the door,without requiring continued or great pressure'of the operators hands.

More specifically, objects of this invention areto provide a door foralaundry drier which may slightly warp or straighten out andwhich etoperates freely; which is pivotally carrled b the tumbler drum and isadapted to free y swing inwardly and upwardly into the tumbler drum, andthereby swing above, and clear of the laundry carried by the drum; andwhich is so constructed that it has no definite inward point to which itmust be swung, but in which the latching p means automatically holdsthedoor at a predetermined point although it may be swung inwardly beyondthis point. l w An embodiment ofthe invention is shown in theaccompanying drawings, in which:

Flgure 1 is a transverse sectional view l through the laundry drier,such view corre- 66 spondinglto a section on the line 1--1 of Fig ure 2,As owing the outer and inner doors closed in full lines, and in dottedlines ing the open positions of the doors.

Figure 2 is a front-view ofthe laundry drier, with parts brokenaway,.s'howing the outer door open land the inner door closed.

Figure 3 1s a sectional view on the line 3-3 o f Figure 1, drawn to anenlarged scale. Fi re 4 is a sectional view on the line 4-'-4 of Flgure3.

Figure 5 is a sectional view on the line 5--5 of Figure 1, drawn to anenlarged scale.

- Referring to the drawings it will be seen that the laundry drier isprovided with an outer casing 1 having a door 2 hinged thereto andadapted to be swung upwardly as shown in dotted lines in Figure 1. A fan3 draws air through the heater chamber 5, past the heater 6, andthrough/a perforated tumbler drum 7.

The tumbler drum is adapted toreceive the laundry or material to bedriedand is revolubly mounted within the outer casing and provided with aplurality of channel shaped, inwardly projecting portions 8 for elevatinor dropping the laundry so :that the heated air may freelypass-therethrough. Preferably the peripheral portion ofthe drum'i'sl`v`formed o a wirel screen 9,1 and the ends are 95 provided with innerand' outer bracing rings 10 and 11,l respectively, see Figure 3.5

A' door ,312:4 is 'provided for the. tumbler drum :and hngedlyjoinedtherete 'and showadapted to swing inwardly into the tumbler drum asshown in dotted lines in Figure 1. The door is preferably formed of acurved sheet of perforated metal, although obviously it may be otherwiseformed without departing from the spirit of this invention. he doorcarries latch bolt casings 14 adjacent each corner at the free edge ofthe door, see Figures 2 and 3. The latch mechanism may take any ofseveral forms, but as one example it is shown as provided with a plungerslidably carried by the casing 14 and provided with a collar v16 againstwhich a spring 17 bears.

Preferably the door is provided with reen- 15 forcing plates 18 whichsurround the open- "ings 19. Operating means such as latch levers aremounted directly inwardly of the openings 19 and are provided with apair of spaced arms 21, see Figure 4, which 20 fit between the ends oftherespective casings 14 and the collars 16. Preferably each latch leveris provided with a heel 22 which tit-s within a notch 23 formed in thecasing 14, as shown in Figures 3 and 4.

It is apparent' that whenever the lever 20 is moved either up or down,the corresponding arm 21 bears against the collar 16 and retracts thebolt 15. In other words. when thedrum is in the position shown in Figure1', it is merely necessary to press the lever 20 either downwardly orupwardly, as the lever is double acting in the sense that it has twoprojecting arms 21, either of which will engage the collar 16 and pressthe plunger 15 inwardly. When the door is in open position, that is tosay, when it is swung inwardly of the drum, as shown in dotted lines inFigure 1, it is apparent that the lever 20 may be rocked outwardlytowards the operator or else may be pushed inwardly away from theoperator.

' Each end of the drum is provided with an outer catch 24 having anopening or notch 25 adapted to receive the bolt 15, and having .a camface 26 upon which the boltmay ride when the door is swung to closedposition, as shown in Figure 3. An inner catch 27 is carried by each endof the tumbler drum and is provided with a pair of ears 28 riveted tothe drum. The inner catches have cam faces 29 upon which the bolts 15ride when the door is swung inwardly, the bolts finally catching in thenotches 30, see Figure 5, and holding the-door in aI predeterminedposition within the tumbler drum.

The laundry drier may bev provided with a control lever 31 and guard aps32, which latter may be swung into the outer casing to prevent clothesfrom dropping into the space 60 between the drum and outer casing whenthe laundry is being placed within or removed from the tumbler drum.

It will be seen that the operator may open the door of the drum by aquick pressure of C his hands against'the levers 20, thus simultaneouslyreleasing the latch mechanism and throwing or suddenly swinging the doorinwardly. The latch mechanism automatically engages the inner catches,althou hthe door may be suddenly swung any istance inwardl of the drum,as the bolts freely ride over t e cam faces29 of the inner catches.

The door-may be readily' released by a quick or substantiallyinstantaneous pressure of the operators hands upon the levers 20. Thelatch mechanism automatically locks the door when it arrives at closedposition.

Thus it is apparent that the operators hands `are in contact with theheated ,ortion of the machine for only an instant w ile a quick push orpull is given the door, and that his hands are instantly removed whilethe door swings open or closed.

The door cannot have a hard or sticky action, although it may warpsomewhat in use, as it will yield slightly and easily latch itself ineither open or closed position.

The construction, therefore, requires only asubstantially instantaneouspressure of the operators hands, and requires, at most, only a lightpressure. There is, therefore, no chance of burning the operators hands,and no discomfort whatsoever is occasioned.

This invention has, from actual trials, been found to fulfill a longfelt want and provides an easily operable, simple and highlyprac ticalconstruction.

Although this invention has been described in considerable detail, it isto be understood that such description is intended as illustrativerather than limiting, as the invention may be variously embodied and isto be interpreted as claimed.

I claim:

1. A laundr drier comprising an outer casing, a revo ubly mountedtumbler drum located within said casing, a door carried by.- said drumand adapted to swing inwardly into said drum, and means for temporarilyholding said' door when said door is' swung inwardly.

2. A laundry drier comprising an outer casing, a tumbler drum revolublymounted. within said casing, a door hingedly carried by said tumblerdrum and adapted to swing into said drum to open said drum, and quicklydetachable means for temporarily latching said door in either open orclosed position.

3. A tumbler drum for a laundry drier comprising an approximatelycylindrical perforated body portion having `an opening through itsperipheral wall, a door hinged to said drum and normally closing saidopening, said door being adapted for inward swinging motion to giveaccess to the interior of said drum, an inwardly positioned catchcarried by said drum, and a latch carried by said door and cooperatingwith said catch to temporarily hold said `door in its inner position.

. mounted within said drum 4. A tumbler drum for a laundry driercomprising an approximately cylindrical body portion formed of openworkmaterial and having an opening, a door normally closing said opening,said door being hinged to said body portion adjacent said opening and`adapted to swing inwardly into said tumbler drum, a spring pressedmanually releasable4 latch carried by said door and constituting meansfor operating said door, and a pair of catches selectively cooperatingwith said door to hold said door either in its closed position or in itsinwardly swung position, said catches having cam faces upon which saidlatch is adapted to ride.

5. A laundry drier comprising an outer casing, a tumbler drum revolublymounted within said outer casing, said tumbler drum having an inwardlyswinging door, an operating handle for said door, and latching meansoperated by said handle and adapted to temporarily lock said door eitherin its inner position or in its closed position.

6. A laundry drier comprising an outer casing, a tumbler drum revolublymounted within said outer casing and having an opening through itsperipheral wall, a door hinged to said drum adjacent an edge of saidopening and adapted to swing into said drum, a latch carried by saiddoor, and a catch and cooperating with said latch to temporarily holdsaid door in an inner position, said latch and catch permitting saiddoor to swing inwardly to. any desired extent.

7. A laundry drier comprising an outer casing, an apertured tumbler drumrevolubly mounted within said casing and having an opening through itsperipheral wall, a door hinged to said drum adjacent an edge of saidopening and adapted to swing inwardly, said door being formed of sheetmetal and having a pair of operating members adjacent its free corners,latch mechanism controlled by said operating members, and meanscooperating with said latch mechanism for temporarily holding said dooreither in closed position or inwardly` of said drum, whereby both saiddoor and latch mechanism may operated by a single eliort on the part ofthe operator.

8. A laundry drier comprising an outer casing, a tumbler drum revolublymounted within said casing and having an opening in its peripheral wall,a door hinged to said drum adjacent an ledge of said opening and adaptedto swing inwardly, an operatin member for operatin said door, and latcmechanism releasable y said operating member for automatically lockingsaid door either in closed position or in its inner position.

9. A laundry drier comprising an outer casing, a tumbler drum revolublymounted within said casing, a perforated sheet metal door hingedlycarriedlby said tumbler drum and having a free edge, said door providing

